"Tanya" wrote in message
...
madgardener wrote:
snip


Walked over to it and poked it carefully with a chop-stick and sure enough,
my subtle feelings were dead on.............it was dead



i have to decide whether some cacti of mine are dead (they look to be in
rigor mortis (at best) they haven't done a thing for 1.5 years ... but i'd
hate to kill them if they are still *alive*) I know what you mean, today
I was watering (you could hear the remaining survivors all over the house
gasping and croaking their disbelief that the drought MIGHT be
over.............LOL) and I found yet ANOTHER one dead and resembling
life............and yes, I did the chopstick
test.............roflmao.................

what's the chop-stick routine?

I takes a chop stick, and goes over and pokes the cactus and if it goes all
the way in thru the spines, it's mushed out and even started drying, but
resembles life still...........I poked the other one and damnit, the chop
stick went thru the skin indicating I'd lost it and I've had THAT one for
over 15 years.........sigh, fungus might be the death dealer, added to that
my warm and dry house, and forgetfullness of watering.............. if the
chop stick hits resistant cactus flesh ( I don't SHOVE it, I poke it
tenderly to see if it gives or what) I know it's alright and hope I've
pushed it thru another winter.

(btw my condolences for your cactus



thank you, the compost pile will be most pleased to get the
roughage...........I can hear it's hunger grumbles from here (needing to
empty that pail of that kitchen slop too, which would be the perfect mix of
dry (dead cacti) and wet (kitchen glop)...........off to the
pile!!!!!!!!!!!!



, the house was consistantly 76-78 degrees, and dry. (heat pumps do that,
dry out the air badly)



by the way, just for sayings sake, the warmest the house has been is 78.
The coolest it is is around 70, with my nook at a constant, (can you hear me
Travis?) CONSTANT temperature of 57o F. The nook has no heat, just windows,
sits over that carport I described in my response to him earlier, a think
layer of insulation between the studs and behind paneling walls and not
drywall. The floor has no insulation under it, as it sits exposed to the
winds that whip thru the carport. We've hung a tarp to close off the south
corner as the opening made it even colder with the north winds ripping thru
to the other side. So to say the house is at 78o is kinda nice when I've
been sitting here at the computer where my toes are numb.......(that's why I
have a ceramic heater under the desk to warm the space for a bit before
shutting it back off) east window and south window and window in door are
all that lets in light, with the back room thru the doorway that faces the
north woods at my back. This nook stays cold. I know this because I have an
Accurite thermometer that measures the outside and inside temperatures and
gives me maximums and minimums to compare. As well as humidity. The house
is dry because the meter says 30% usually.

maddie



snip